One Day At A Time
by kausingkayn
Summary: A lot can happen in a day. Especially when that day involves reuniting with old loves, running for your life, and hospital nightmares. Eliot Whumpage.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So, this started as a one-shot. Then, the plot bunnies attacked with their rabies-infested ideas, and it bloomed into a two-shot. However, the idea is still growing, and it may even become a three-shot, which by then I believe it is considered a story. Oh well. Hope you enjoy. Dedicated to SiriusDoctorWhoHoney329.**

**_Italics = flashback_**

**regular = current time**

**This is not beta-ed, so the mistakes are my own.**

**Rated T for violence and language.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Leverage. If I did, Eliot would get more screen time.**

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"Out of the way, please!" The young paramedic yelled at the people in the hallway as she rolled the bed toward the emergency room. Her destination was straight ahead. The doors were already open and she could see the doctor waiting inside, already prepped and ready for surgery. He took a quick glance at the man who was strapped to the bed, watching as his eyelids fluttered. They had given him pain medication and put him under on the drive over in the ambulance, but he was starting to wake up. The man was bleeding badly from several wounds located all over his body. There were two bullet wounds, one located on his side and the other on his shoulder. The paramedic had tried her best to stop the bleeding, but the man was loosing blood really fast, and no one, not even the woman who was with him, knew what his blood type was. Then there was the matter of his broken arm, twisted ankle, and the gash on the side of his head. These were all preliminary findings, of course, and once the man was out of the danger zone –if he got out of the danger zone– x-rays would be taken and the breaks would be taken care of.

The paramedic made it to the operating room and wheeled the man in. She handed him off to the doctors and nurses in the room, and then went to check on the other person whom she had brought in from the crash. This woman was in much better shape, only having several scratches and bruises located on her body, along with a little mud. She had been taken to a different section of the hospital in order to treat her minor wounds. It had been very difficult, seeing that the woman had refused strongly about being separated from the man. She claimed to be his girlfriend, but nothing had been written down yet. The paramedic needed to find the doctor who had treated the woman and give him her verbal report before returning to her ambulance.

Meanwhile, the doctor that had been assigned to this woman was trying to disinfect a larger scratch and cover it before it got infected. However, this said woman was being very impatient, and very loud. She angrily yanked her arm out of the doctor's hands and pushed her blonde bangs out of her eyes. "Leave me alone, I'm fine!"

"Ma'am, please cooperate with me, it's for your own good." The poor doctor said, trying to treat this angered woman.

"My own good? You want to help me? Let me see my boyfriend!"

It was at this time that a nurse entered the room, followed by a policeman. The nurse spoke up. "Your boyfriend is currently in surgery. As soon as you are patched up, Mr. Scott here will escort you to the waiting area."

This calmed the woman down enough that she allowed the doctor to quickly care to her wounds. The fire never left the woman's hazel eyes, and she watched the policeman with a puzzled face. "Why do I need an escort? I did nothing wrong."

"We understand that. However, the circumstances of the crash are suspicious, along with the bullet wounds that you boyfriend sustained. I need a statement from you regarding the crash." The policeman said as the nurse left the room, her job finished for the time being.

The woman only nodded, and as soon as the doctor finished patching her up she stood up and motioned for Mr. Scott to lead the way. She wasn't going to answer any questions until she was situated in the waiting room.

Once they were sitting in two chairs located in the waiting room for families that had people in surgery, the woman calmed down even more, even though the worry lines never left her face. She watched as the policeman took out his notepad and flip it open to a blank page. "I'd like to start with your names."

The woman sighed. "Like I told the paramedics. My name is Lindsey Thompson, and my boyfriend's name is Eliot Jones." Both names were fake, but the police didn't need to know that, and any verification that they would need had already been taken care of by an outside source.

The policeman scribbled that down. "And now, tell me about the crash."

_Lindsey watched as Eliot jumped into the car and slammed the door shut. The keys were already in the ignition, the vehicle humming as it sat in neutral. He quickly slammed the gear into forward and pressed down on the gas. Lindsey had to hold on to the dashboard as the car skidded out of the parking lot. She looked behind her and saw the reason for the hasty exit. A dark truck was right on their heels. She saw a flash of silver and heard a slight ping as a bullet ricocheted off the side of the truck. "What the hell is going on!"_

_She knew that the question was rhetorical; it was just her way of dealing with the fear that had filled her head as soon as she saw Eliot's approaching form burst out of the front doors of the building. It was then that she noticed that Eliot's hand was covered in blood, and on further inspection she noticed it was his own. The man's right shoulder was also covered in blood. Lindsey saw a hole in the fabric of his shirt and watched as red liquid flowed freely. She gasped. "You're bleeding."_

"_Nah shit." Eliot grunted out, focusing on the road. He pushed the pedal down further, hitting a dangerous 80 miles an hour as the truck behind them inched closer. Lindsey looked around the car for something to stop the bleeding. Finding nothing, she quickly took off her blue coat and pressed it against the wound. Eliot cursed and the car swerved, but stayed on the road. "Warn me next time, will yah?"_

_Lindsey nodded, and watched in despair as her blue coat turned red very quickly. She stole a glance at Eliot's face and her fear grew greater as she noticed that he was very pale. His hands were shaking on the wheel, and the car was swaying on the road, sometime going over as far as the next lane. "You're bleeding out. Eliot!"_

_She pressed harder on the wound, growing sick in the stomach as the blood started to soak her hands. She swallowed, now was not the time to get sick. She watched as his eyes started to flutter, and his hands started to go slack on the wheel. Right outside the window, a bullet coming from the men in the truck blew off the mirror. "Eliot! Don't go to sleep! Come on!"_

_The mixture of her voice and the shattering glass brought Eliot back to the present. He grunted and focused on the road once more. He shifted in the seat, and Lindsey's eyes grew wide and her face lost all its blood as she saw the driver car door smeared with blood, and the floorboards stained a deep red. This liquid was coming from Eliot's side, where there was another bullet hole in his clothing. He was shot twice._

_Eliot's hands were growing slack once more, and Lindsey abandoned the coat and reached for the wheel, yanking it to the right as the road in front of them turned. The light was slowly dimming in Eliot's eyes, and the man took his foot off the gas petal and turned to look at Lindsey in the eyes. _

"_What are you doing?" She hissed as she watched the truck pull closer. _

_Eliot swallowed and grimaced, trying to fight off the blackness that was crawling into the edges of his vision. "I need you to jump."_

_His fingers slipped off the wheel and his left hand clumsily pressed the button on the dash to unlock the door. He then switched hands on the wheel and leaned over Lindsey and opened the passenger door, yelling out in pain as he did so. Lindsey just sat there, numb with shock as she watched the speedometer lower to 40 miles per hour, then 35. The truck behind them was basically on top of them. She saw out of the corner of her eye as a man leaned out of the side of the window and take aim at the cars tires. _

"_Jump darlin'." Eliot whispered. Lindsey shook her head, tears starting to fall out of her eyes. She watched as Eliot leaned over and violently mashed his lips into hers. Lindsey frantically kissed him back, then screamed in horror as she felt his hand push solidly on her stomach. She reached out to grab onto something, but there was no use. She fell out of the car door, her last image before hitting the ground was Eliot's face etched in pain and fear as his long hair whipped around in the air._

Lindsey wiggled in her seat. "Eliot and I were driving home and these guys in a big truck pulled up next to us, going the wrong way. They rolled down the window then shot at us." She paused, feeling tears well up in her eyes as she remembered what really happened. "Two of the bullets hit Eliot, and he lost control of the car. I wasn't' wearing my seatbelt, and I got thrown out of the car as it went off the road. Eliot wasn't so lucky…"

She drifted off and gripped the sides of the chair tightly in order to keep her hands from shaking. The policeman noticed this, and hesitated, not wanting to push the poor girl past her limits. She had been through a lot. However, he needed to finish the report, and would prefer to get the information before Eliot came out of surgery. "Can you remember anything else?"

_Lindsey hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the breath out of her as she tumbled down the slopping land and into the ditch, where there was a small layer of muddy water in the bottom. Lindsey quickly picked herself up and scrambled to the top of the ditch just in time to watch Eliot's car swerve off the road. Because he has slowed down to push her out, the truck had ended up basically on top of the other car, and the man in the window had emptied his whole round into the cars tires. Both back tires blew out, and the car was unable to stay on the road. Lindsey screamed as she watched the car hit the ditch, flip twice, and land upside down at the base of some trees outlining the forest, a large mushroom cloud lighting up the sky as the car exploded. One of the bullets must of hit the gas tank. Lindsey climbed out of the ditch and blindly made her way over to the wreck, not even noticing that the dark truck hadn't stopped to make sure that they had finished the job. Her tears obscured her vision as she reached the wreck, her skin feeling hot from the flames that were licking up the side of the car. Lindsey didn't want to approach the car, scared that she would find a burnt corpse in the drivers seat._

_Then, she spotted a body laying several yards away from the burning car. "Eliot!" She screamed, speeding up into a run. She reached the body and recognized the give-away long hair. The man was lying on his back. At first it looked as if he wasn't breathing. Lindsey fell to her knees next to him and gently placed her hand on his chest. She felt it moving, and a sob of relief made its way from the back of her throat. She checked for his pulse and found it, weakly beating. Although, from the state that he was in, Michelle was doubtful that he would be alive for long. His right arm was laying beside him at an impossible angle, and the right side of Eliot's head was soaked in blood seeping from a large gash on his temple. There were also lots of little scraps and cuts on his skin that she could see. Lindsey wasted no time. She carefully yanked off his already blood-soaked shirt and ripped it in half, wincing as she saw large bruises already forming on his chest. She took the two pieces of clothing and pressed them tightly against his two bullet wounds. She used her hand to press against his shoulder wound, and her knee to stop the side wound. Then, with her free hand she dug around in his pockets until she found his cell phone. _

"_Don't you dare die on my, Eliot Spencer!" She gritted through her teeth as she quickly dialed 9-1-1. The operator picked up, and Lindsey was quick to tell where they were. "Hi! Thank God! He's dieing! Send an ambulance, we are…..about 10 miles past the old Insurance building on the major highway."_

_She hung up before she could get a response. She then quickly opened his contacts and found it empty. Lindsey cursed under her breath, pressing down harder on Eliot's wounds. Why would she have thought that a retrieval specialist would be careless enough to keep his allies in his phonebook? Since the ambulance would be arriving soon, she would need a cover ID for both of them if they didn't want their true identities to be found out. Lindsey could take care of herself, but she knew that Eliot was on a team, and they probably had several IDs made up already for emergencies like this. If only she could contact them. Getting an idea, she found his "recently dialed" numbers and pressed send on the first one listed._

"Eliot, man, do you get the concept of _separate_ vacations? Or do I need to spell it out for you? Yah know, sometimes-"

_Lindsey cut the voice off quickly, panic in her voice. "Eliot's hurt really bad. I called an ambulance, but I need a cover ID for him. Do you know where I could reach Nathan Ford?" Lindsey knew who Eliot worked for, and it wasn't a problem remembering the guys name. She was shocked the first time he told her. Nate Ford was infamous on the wrong side of the law. _

"Uh, who is this?" _This voice asked._

"_Not important. I need that ID!" She yelled, the fear evident in her voice._

_There was a small silence on the other side of the phone. _"Eliot Jones, works for Leverage Consulting & Co. How did you get this phone?"

_Lindsey cut the other man off, shutting the phone and slipping it into her own pocket. She had what she needed. She focused on Eliot's form, her tears falling from her eyes and mixing with his blood. So much blood…_

"_Come on. You can make it. Hold on." She said over and over again, loosing hope as every second passed. Finally, she heard the wail of sirens in the distance._

"Um, I called 9-1-1 on his phone, then applied pressure on his wounds until the paramedics showed up." Lindsey answered the policeman's question. Mr. Scott nodded, and put his pen away before flipping closed his pad and putting that away as well. "Thanks you. I know this must be hard. I may have more questions later."

Lindsey nodded and hugged herself. "I'll be here." She watched as the policeman got up and walked away. She sat there for several minutes, fingering the strange clothing that was on her body. Since her other clothes were covered in Eliot's blood, she had been given a pair of scrubs from one of the nurses who was the same size as her. She had gotten most of the blood off herself with a sponge while she was waiting for a doctor to come in and patch her up. Lindsey felt a small panic attack coming and started to take deep breaths in order to calm herself. Now was the only real time that she had to think things through since Eliot had jumped in the car that morning. She brought her fingers up to her lips and brushed over them, trying to remember the way Eliot tasted. However, when she closed her eyes, all she could see was him lying in the grass, bleeding, or the look on his face when he pushed her out of the car. She knew that look. In fact, she had seen it several times before. That was the look on a man's face that they got when they knew they were going to die, and accepted it.

She sat by herself in the waiting room, staring at the clock on the wall as the seconds ticked by. She had stopped crying a while ago, and had curled up in a ball. A nurse had come by several times to try and get her to come back into a hospital room, or even get something to eat or drink, but Lindsey refused them all. She wasn't going to leave the chair she was sitting in until Eliot got out of surgery. As the time passed, Lindsey started to slip in and out of sleep. She was entirely exhausted, but kept waking herself up every time she found herself falling into unconsciousness. This went on for while, until a man in a white lab coat and scrubs approached her. "Miss Thompson?"

"Yes." Lindsey asked, nodding her head and standing up.

"Mr. Jones is out of surgery"

This brightened her up. She got a renewed light in her eyes. "Is he ok? Where is he? I have to see him."

The doctor nodded and beckoned for Lindsey to start walking. She did, and the two went down the hallway side by side. "He is alive, but not out of the danger zone yet. We have him set up in a private room in the ICU. I need to debrief you about his injuries before you see him, though."

Lindsey felt the urge to yell at the man that she had to see him that instant, but fought it down. She needed to know the extent of his injuries as well. And he was alive. Alive and breathing and out of surgery.

The Doctor continued, glancing at the chart in his hand. "Mr. Jones had two bullet wounds. One in his shoulder and one in his left side. Neither bullets hit anything extremely important, though we did have to retrieve the one out of his shoulder.

We were able to sew up the large cut on the left side of his temple using 17 stitches. He also had a concussion. We were able to relieve the swelling but we still need to watch him.

He also broke his right arm in two places, which we set and put in a cast. His left ankle was swollen, but only twisted. Mr. Jones had two cracked ribs and internal bleeding caused by the rupture of his spleen. We were able to stop the bleeding, but will need to keep him at least three days to monitor it, possible more.

Overall, he was very lucky. He lost an enormous amount of blood, but we found out what his type was and were able to give him a transfusion in time to save his life. The next 24 hours will be vital."

Lindsey listened silently, numbly nodding her head at the right moments, turning pale and feeling slightly sick as she listened to the list of injuries, which never seemed to end. Finally, the doctor stopped talking and they had reached their destination. There was a curtain pulled tightly closed, and Lindsey could see a pair of feet behind it, most possible a nurse. She reached forward to pull back the curtain, but the doctor stopped her. "I just want to warn you. He is very pale and has tubes and wires sticking to him all over, along with lots of bandages. He is also still under the anesthetic and we have his using an oxygen mask until he wakes up."

Lindsey nodded and took a deep breath. "I just want to see him." Her voice sounded weak and like it belonged to someone else. The doctor nodded his head then retreated. He had other patients to treat. Lindsey stood outside of the room, her hand lingering at the curtain. Finally, she pulled it back and slipped inside. The nurse, who was flitting over Eliot's body turned to see who had entered, then resumed taking down the readings from the machines.

Lindsey stood at the edge of the hospital bed, feeling tears well once more in her eyes as she took in the sight of the hitter.

His skin was pale and had an almost yellowish-green hue to it. He looked so weak and fragile lying there in the hospital gown. Just like the doctor said, there were tubes and wires attached all over his body, running off the bed and into the machines that beeped above his head. There were needles in his arm and in his neck, all putting some sort of fluid into his body. His right arm was in a small cast, and she saw that his right ankle was slightly swollen, though not discolored. Her eyes traveled to his face. There was a breathing tube coming out of his mouth, and a white bandage wrapped around his forhead. His eyes were closed, and she could watch as Eliot's chest slowly rose up and down, up and down.

Lindsey couldn't take her eyes off of him. The man whom she always knew as the guy who was invincible. The strong one who had no weaknesses. Of course, she knew that this wasn't true, but she still liked to believe in it. A small smile made its way onto her face as she looked at his hair, or, more accurately put, the lack of hair. In order to properly dress the large wound on the side of his head, they had shaved off all of Eliot's long hair. He was left with a military-style cut, only a little bushier on top. Lindsey knew that the man would have a fit when he woke up. If there was one thing that Eliot was vain about, it was his hair. She had bought him a special hair-straightener several months ago, one of those cool kind that used special lights instead of heat to straighten the hair so it wouldn't damage hair or cause split ends or anything like that.

Lindsey let out a shaky breath and looked around for a chair. Finding one, she pulled it up next to the bed, making sure not to sit it on any wires. Then, she sat down and leaned back. Lindsey took Eliot's left hand in her right one, gently wrapping her fingers around his. The nurse gave her a look, but said nothing. Lindsey used her thumb the gently stroke a small patch of skin on Eliot's hand. "I'm so sorry." She whispered. "So sorry."

_Lindsey didn't look up from the table that she was cleaning as a visitor entered. "We're closed. Read the sign."_

_She ignored the person as she heard their footsteps approach her. It was almost 3 in the morning and they had closed over an hour ago. She must have forgotten to lock the doors. Lindsey worked at a high-class nightclub that was located in Davenport, Iowa. She was a waitress slash bartender at the club, and she had pulled the short straw that week, causing her to have to stay several hours late in order to close up._

"_Well now, honey, if that's what you want."_

_Lindsey looked up from the table, her eyes brightening as she recognized the voice. "Eliot!" She yelled, dropping the rag she had been using to clean the table. Lindsey ran up to the man and engulfed him in a hug, reaching up to kiss him when she felt his strong arms wrap around her. He closed her eyes and moaned as Eliot returned the kiss. They stayed like that for several heartbeats before Lindsey pulled away. "It's been several months at least. I was beginning to think you forgot about me."_

"_Forget about you? Don't think it's possible." The man replied, reaching into the pocket of his black leather jacket for an envelope. Lindsey took a second to look him over. His hair was still as long as she remembered. He was wearing a black shirt and a pair of jeans with cowboy boots and that belt buckle that he never went in public without. Her eyes snapped to his hands as he pulled something out of his jacket and handed it to her. Lindsey raised her eyebrow, but took the envelope all the same. She slowly ripped it open and pulled out two tickets. She read what they said with wide eyes. "Wow…Eliot."_

_The man shrugged, like it was no big deal. "I know how much you love those Broadway shows, and Nathan gave us all a few weeks off. Plus, I still owe you."_

_Lindsey nodded, resisting the urge to jump up and down. She had time to be excited later, though, and quickly pocketed the tickets. "Damn right you do. It's my best work yet."_

_She put up a finger and disappeared around the back of the bar, only to resurface ten minutes later with an envelope of her own, this was at least three times larger than the one Eliot gave her. Then man smiled and opened the package, his eyes scanning the document before replacing them in the envelope and slipping it into his jacket pocket. "Nice."_

_Lindsey snorted. "Nice? Those are more than nice. You are holding a whole _life_ in your pocket. Jack Kane, age 32. Traveling businessman. You could give those documents to the freaking Butcher of Kiev and he wouldn't know it was you."_

_Eliot rolled his eyes, but smiled all the same. "What would I do without you?"_

"_You wouldn't." She joked, picking back up her rag and continued her job of cleaning up the tables. This was the last one of the night, and she would be ready to go. "How long did you say you had?"_

"_About two and a half weeks."_

"_Oh, Ford's getting generous." Lindsey shot, throwing the rag behind the bar._

_Eliot slipped his arm around Lindsey's waist as she approached him. "Leave the man alone, he's changed. He's one of us now."_

"_Yeah, you keep telling me that." Lindsey said, smiling as she felt Eliot's arm around her waist. It had been a long time since she had felt that. As the two made their way out of the front door, Lindsey paused and locked the club with her key. Her eyes lit up as she realized that Eliot had ridden his motorcycle. She loved that thing. "Hey, Eliot?"_

"_Yeah Lin." He mumbled as he swung his leg over the motorcycle and threw Lindsey a helmet._

"_Before we go to New York, there is this guy who had been giving me some trouble. I did a job for him a while ago and he still hasn't paid. Do you think…?"_

_Eliot just sighed and shook his head. His own girl wanted him to go and beat up some guy for money. What was the world coming too? "Yeah. We can go the day after tomorrow, ok?"_

Lindsey was jolted awake when she felt an arm on her shoulder, shaking her gently. She hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep. She mumbled something and stretched, having to untwine her hand from Eliot's before glancing at the clock. It was past nine at night. She focused on the woman who had shaken her; it was the nurse that had been in the room when she had first seen Eliot after the surgery. Lindsey glanced at the nametag. It spelled out Rachel. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours end at nine in the ICU. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

This woke Lindsey up quickly, and she sat up straight in the chair. "I'm not leaving him." She said in a no questions tone.

The nurse sighed and tried again. "I understand, but you have to leave. It's the rules. You can sleep out in the waiting room. Once we move to the regular patient rooms, you can stay with him as much as you want."

Lindsey shook her head. "No offence, but I am pretty sure you don't understand. I'm not leaving this room."

"Ma'am, if you don't leave, I will have to call security. It's hospital policy."

"I don't care about damn policy!" Lindsey stood up, causing the nurse to back up several steps. Then, Lindsey realized what she had just done was totally uncalled for and sighed before running her hand through her straight blonde hair. "I-I'm sorry. It's been a long day."

The nurse nodded, accepted Lindsey's apology. Lindsey gave a weak smile before turning toward Eliot. She gently stroked his left arm, since his right one was in a cast. She wanted to kiss him on the forehead or something, but she was scared that it might hurt him. She managed to let go and slowly walk out of the room. She would be there at the very start of visiting hours the next morning. She wanted to be there when he woke up. Lindsey slowly made her way back to the waiting room that had become all too familiar to her the past several hours and sat down in a chair that was able to recline back. She had entered a small section of the waiting room called the "Quiet Room." The whole place was filled with recliners, and there was one other person in there, already asleep, probably waiting for their loved one to wake up or come out of surgery as well. She settled down and closed her eyes, slowly falling into a fitful sleep.

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**Tada! So, tell me. Hate it? Like it? Maybe even love it? Reviews of any kind are wanted! The more I get, the more incentive I have to write.**

**I will update the second that I finish typing the next chapter. SiriusDoctorWhoHoney329 will see to that.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I have one more planned, possibly two if you are good. Let me know what other kind of flashbacks you want, and I may be able to extend it. Once again, thanks to the reviewers and silent stalkers. This is unbeta-ed, the mistakes are my own. The hospital jargon and everything is as close to realistic as I could make it, my dad is a doctor who works in the ER and I quizzed him about this.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Meatball42**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Leverage, why would I be doing this?**

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Lindsey woke up the next morning to yelling and the pitter-patter of feet as people ran into the ICU. She glanced quickly at the clock on the wall, which was telling her that it was a little before four in the morning. She felt a wave of panic rush over her, and for a few moments she could envision Eliot lying in his hospital bed as the machine next to him beeped loudly, showing that he was flat lining. Lindsey felt tears come to her eyes, and she hastily wiped them away as she approached the entrance to the ICU. She grabbed the arm of one of the nurses. "What's going on?"

"Everything is ok." The man said, even though it was obvious that everything wasn't ok. She tried to look into Eliot's small room, but couldn't see around the corner. "Just tell me if the man in room 3324 is ok."

The nurse's eyes grew wide and the man stuttered, telling Lindsey everything that she needed to know. She ran past the man, not stopping when his shouts hit her ears. As she rounded to corner she saw a small crowd of doctors and nurses crowding around Eliot's room. She pushed through them, ignoring them when they said that she wasn't allowed back there. She finally caught sight of what was going on.

Apparently, Eliot had woken up.

He was sitting up, the machines behind him going wild. The tubes and wires that had previously been strapped to his body were now hanging limply by the side of the bed. A large patch of his hospital gown was soaked in blood, where his stitches from his bullet wound had ripped open from his movement. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, a dangerous and desperate look in his eyes. Eliot was in a foreign environment, and was a man who was trained to have one thing on the top of his list. Survival. Lindsey knew that if someone didn't stop him, he could kill someone. It looked like he already hurt a nurse; she had seen one being wheeled away as she rushed into his room. She pushed the other hospital staff back, noticing that one of them held a needle, more than likely containing some sort of sedative. She placed herself right in front of Eliot, but just out of his reach. "Eliot? It's Lin, remember?"

Eliot paused what he was doing and looked at Lindsey, recognition fleeting across his face. Lindsey continued. "You're safe. It's ok." Her voice started to break.

The man's body relaxed, and he breathed out shakily. Lindsey took this moment to rush forward, wrapping her arms around him, crying into his shoulder. "Thank God you're awake. I'm so sorry." She whispered into his shoulder.

Eliot tried to wrap his arms around her, but only managed to get his right arm around her waist, his left one being contained in a cast. He breathed in Lindsey's scent, grunting in pain and relief. She was safe.

"_So, tell me about this 'job' you got for me." Eliot asked, sitting down on the couch next to Lindsey. He had two opened beers in his hand. He took a sip from one, and gave the other to the woman next to him. She took it gratefully, and leaned back once Eliot had strung his arm around her waist. The two were sitting in Lindsey's small apartment, which she rented above the club that she worked in. It wasn't big or fancy or anything like that. It was practical and the perfect amount of space for one person. Eliot had talked to her about buying a bigger place, or even moving down to Portland so they could be closer, but she refused. All her clients knew that she worked in Davenport, and it would be difficult to call them all and tell her she was relocating. _

"_The guy's name is Harry Harper. He runs some under-the-counter drug deals. Ya know, black market grade stuff. He came to me about two months ago with some cash and a request. He wanted me to make the copy of some seal used by a foreign government. Turns out that any drugs that enter the country have to have this seal, or you can't cell them." Lindsey took a break, bringing her beer up to her lips and taking a swig before continuing. "Paid me five grand up front, and I told him I expected five grand after. He agreed."_

_Eliot stared at Lindsey in disbelief. "Ten thousand dollars for a seal?"_

"_Hey," Lindsey snapped. "It was a very difficult seal. This thing was made up of four different layers, the designs of which were only known by the government that issued it! I had to pay two grand to some computer nerd to peel the layers for me, then several hundred for the paper and ink. Don't forget my time. Took me a damn month to finish the thing."_

_Eliot would have raised his hands in defeat, but that was difficult to do when you had a beer in one hand and the other was around his girls waist. He knew how meticulous Lindsey was when it came to forging. That was why she was known as one of the best in the business. It may take her twice as long as any other forger, and she didn't like using equipment other than when absolutely necessary, but the product she made was as close to the real thing as anyone could get. _

"_Anyway. When I gave him the product I got my money, but when I got home I looked at it more closely, and realized it was forged. The idiot, trying to rip off a forger with forfeit money. Well, I approached him about it, and was met by a 9 millimeter and a trip to the nearest exit."_

"_Any you want me to go and try and 'talk' some sense into him for you?" Eliot asked, even though it was more of a statement. He understood what Lindsey was asking, but it seemed a bit too risky for him. He had no idea about the outlay of the building, had only a few days for recon, and was dealing with black market men and guns. By himself. However, there was no way he could say no to Lindsey. If she asked him to jump off a bridge, he would grab a parachute and jump off backwards. "Seems like a bit much for five grand."_

_Lindsey rolled her eyes and smacked him playfully on the chest. "It's not just the money. It's my reputation as well. What will happen when people find out I got cheated with someone else's product? Plus, if you show up, people will know not to mess with me. I know you hate it, but you are popular in the underworld, Eliot."_

_The man sighed, but he saw her point. Plus, the guy sounded like he needed a bit of sense knocked into him, and he fit the parameter of a bad guy. Since joining the Leverage crew, Eliot tried to stick to beating up bad guys instead of whoever he was told. "I'll need blueprints of the building and a day or two for recon. When is the fastest I can get that?"_

_Eliot wanted to get this done before going to New York to watch the play. He also wanted to spend time with Lindsey. The woman knew this, and smiled, pulling out her phone. "Yesterday."_

Lindsey felt a hand on her shoulder and she reluctantly let go of Eliot. She knew that he was in pain, and needed to get his wound stitched up again before he lost too much blood. Again. She looked down and noticed that once again the front of her shirt was covered in Eliot's blood. She backed away, letting the cautious nurse come forward and inject Eliot with the sedative. The man's eyes watched the needle carefully, and for a moment Lindsey was afraid that he would resist. However, he only stiffened up, and the liquid was inserted into his body. Not long after, Eliot's eyelids began to droop and he leaned back, falling into a forced sleep.

Once his breathing was regular. Another doctor approached the bed and stopped the bleeding, while the nurse hurriedly put all the wires back on his body where they belonged, and started his IV again. Lindsey noticed that she didn't put the breathing tube back in his mouth, and was glad for that. It freaked her out, knowing that he couldn't breath without the help of a machine. She stayed there, having to avert her eyes when the Doctor replaced the stitches in Eliot's side with new ones. Soon, it was only the nurse and Lindsey there in the room with the man. There was a large bloodstain on the front of Eliot's hospital gown, and the nurse went to replace it with a new, fresh one. "You might want to step out for a moment."

"I've seen him naked before." Lindsey snapped, causing the man to blush slightly. He pulled the curtain shut and removed the bloody gown; quickly replacing it was a fresh one. Lindsey paled when she saw the white bandages covering Eliot's torso. She knew that they had to cut into him near where his spleen was, and had to wrap the ribs, but it was still something totally different once she saw it. Her view was obscured as the new gown was put in place. The male nurse coughed in order to get Lindsey's attention, which she gave him. "You can stay in the room with him in case he…panics when he wakes up again. There will be a nurse or a doctor on the hall 24/7, so if he starts to wake up, or you need anything, let us know."

The man noticed the fresh blood on Lindsey's scrubs. "I can get you fresh clothes, if you like." She nodded silently, and watched as the man disappeared down the hallway. Lindsey took her post in her chair, one again intertwining her fingers with Eliot's. The chair she was sitting in was very uncomfortable, but she was so tired that it didn't matter. Soon, she was drifting off the sleep, dreaming about exploding cars and bloody clothes.

"_I joined a team." Eliot said, somewhat reluctantly. He was lying stretched out on a couch sitting up against the wall of a medium sized room. The walls were covered with professional looking photos and paintings. There were several easels located around the room, some with blank canvases, others halfway finished. Eliot spotted a half-finished painting that looked very much like a Van Gogh, and another that resembled a Michelangelo painting. Lindsey was sitting on a barstool, a desk lamp sitting right next to her, causing a specific spot on her workbench to be lit up extremely well. She was hold a small writing utensil over a piece of what looked like parchment paper, large magnifying glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose. She paused to push them up before giving Eliot a nice long stare. "What did I tell you about interrupting? It's not easy duplicating the Declaration of Independence when I have silence. Near impossible while you are blabbing on."_

_Eliot chuckled. "I knew I never should have rented that movie."_

_Lindsey gave a 'humph' and looked around for something to through at the man. She located a heavy looking paperweight and chucked it at him. Her aim was off, but Eliot still managed to catch it with his hand before smiling and gently tossing it back to her. She caught it and put it back in its place before returning to her work. Several minutes passed. "Who with?"_

_It took Eliot several seconds to realize that Lindsey was asking him about the team he joined. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes before speaking. "Well, there is that notorious thief, Parker."_

"_The crazy one?"_

_Eliot nodded. "Yeah. And a guy named Alec Hardison."_

_Lindsey snorted. "I've heard of him too. A good hacker, supposedly, but does real crappy forgery. All printed from his computer. Amateur."_

_Eliot smiled and shook his head at his girl's words. Hardison's 'crappy' forgery work would get any of them into the FBI without a second glance. Of course, when you are talking about a person who duplicates White House visitor passes by hand, things were a little different. "Then there is this grifter, Sophie Devereaux."_

_At this Lindsey shrugged. "Never heard of her." Eliot was pretty sure that Sophie would be glad about that. Of course, he wasn't going to tell the team about Lindsey. He had his reasons. He didn't saw anything else, but he knew that she would realize that he was leaving someone out. He couldn't lie to her, she caught him every time. Maybe it was the fact that she spent her whole life perfecting little details that she started to be able to pick them out._

"_Anyone else?"_

_Eliot took a deep breath and braced himself. "Nathan Ford."_

_The sound of paper being torn was heard, followed by loud and very unlady-like cursing. Lindsey spun in her stool so fast that it made Eliot's head spin. "What?!" She screeched, causing Eliot to wince._

_Lindsey stood up from her stool, the ruined Declaration all but forgotten. "You teamed up with that bastard, knowing full well what he did to me and my business!"_

_She advanced on him, and Eliot smartly jumped up from the couch, preparing to defend himself. Lindsey had a right to be angry. Several years ago she had been contracted to do the biggest forgery job in the history of forging. A daring young thief had contracted her to paint a copy of the Mona Lisa. The man offered to pay her one point five million dollars. Of course, unable to turn down a challenge, and that amount of money, Lindsey accepted. She spent a whole year on the painting, starting over twice before she finally made one that fit her standards. The man had paid her five hundred thousand in advance, and was going to give her the other million once he sold the real Mona Lisa. The switch worked perfectly, and no one knew that the painting had been switched for two whole days…until an insurance investigator decided to pay a visit to the Mona Lisa as a vacation._

_That man was Nathan Ford. He was the only one to realize that the Mona Lisa on display was fake. He got his wife, Maggie, to confirm it. After that, he caught the thief in a matter of days, and then came after Lindsey, causing her to uproot her whole business (which at that time was in Venice) and be on the run for over several months until she was finally able to come out of hiding and set back up, this time in Iowa. "That man owes me a million dollars!"_

_She fumed as she reached Eliot, using her finger to poke him hard in the chest. "And you decide to team up with him. Nice. What next? Turning soft and crossing over to the light side?"_

_Eliot shifted uncomfortably on his feet and cleared his throat. "Well…"_

_Lindsey's eyes grew wide as she stared at Eliot in disbelief. "Do I know you?"_

_Eliot frowned at his girl's over-reacting. "It ain't that bad, darlin'. It's more of a robinhood thing." _

_Lindsey raised her eyebrows, but relented all the same. "Fine."_

_She sighed and buried her face in his chest. Eliot relaxed and circled her body with his strong arms, smelling her hair. She pushed back enough in order to give him a kiss. He quickly kissed back, and both were smiling when they came up for air moments later._

"_But now you owe me new parchment paper from 1776."_

Lindsey woke up sooner than she wanted to, and was wishing for a few more minutes until she realized why she had woken up. Something had moved, jolting her form her slumber. And that something was Eliot's left hand.

Lindsey rubbed her eyes with her free hand, gently stroking Eliot's hand with her other. His fingers started to twitch and several seconds later she watched as his eyelids fluttered. Slowly, his eyes opened and focused on the room, and he started to move around.

"Hey." Lindsey muttered, continuing to stroke his hand. She reached to the button that the nurse had told her to press if she needed anything, and then watched as Eliot slowly turned his head to look at her. "Hey yourself, sweetheart."

His voice was whispery and hoarse, and sounded painful to talk. However, his face didn't show it. The man just smiled and squeezed Lindsey's hand. He frowned slightly, noticing the small bruises and scrapes on her face and arms. "You alright?"

"Says the man who pushed me out of a car." She said in a joking manner, even though she meant it seriously.

Eliot sighed and brought his free hand up to run his fingers through his hair, something he normally does when at a loss for words. He paused halfway through, his facial features quickly changing from confusion to recognition to anger. "Get me a mirror." He managed to say.

Lindsey's eyes widened unsure of whether to oblige. The nurse reaction time down here wasn't the best. "Not sure if that is a good idea."

A growling sound came from the back of Eliot's throat, but was cut off by him hissing with pain. It was this moment that the nurse decided to enter the room. "Ah, I see you are awake."

The nurse was a different one than Lindsey had spoken to. She was a short little thing, with long bleach blonde hair that was pulled up into a ponytail. She was wearing pink scrubs with little hearts on them. All in all, Lindsey had a reason to be jealous. Especially when Eliot opened his mouth.

"Glad that I'm up as well." He said in a flirting manner. At least, as much as he could in his current condition. Lindsey let out a small huff and the nurse gave a large smile. "Do you need anything? How's the pain?"

Eliot grunted. "Pain's fine. I could really use a mirror though, if it isn't too much of a hassle." He shot a toothy smile, and the nurse nodded. "Let me see what I can do."

She disappeared, and Lindsey shot him a look. "Seriously? You were awake for all of two minutes and the first thing you do if flirt with you nurse? I would hit you, but that would be borderline abuse"

Eliot tried to laugh, but only managed to upset his stitches, causing him to grimace painfully.

"Another thing. Tell them the truth about the pain. Medication is your friend in a situation like this."

Eliot shook his head. "Drugs make me groggy. Plus, pain is good. Mean's I'm still breathing."

Lindsey sighed and sat back in her chair, taking her hand from Eliot's and earning a frown. "Men."

Eliot wiggled a little more in his bed, trying to get comfortable, but only making himself more uncomfortable, and shooting waves of pain through his body. He grinded his teeth. Lindsey noticed this and stood up. "Wait for you new girlfriend to come back, she can help you."

Eliot frowned at this, looking Lindsey straight in the eye. "Lin, you know I was only trying to get the mirror, right?"

She nodded. Of course she knew. That didn't stop her from being jealous. She began to think more deeply in this, when Eliot brought her back to reality. "Damage report."

His voice was getting softer and more gravely as he spoke, letting Lindsey know that he needed to stop talking. She nodded and returned to her seat, crossing her arms and thinking hard, trying to remember exactly what the doctor said. "Two bullet wounds, broken arm, swollen ankle, two cracked ribs, concussion, nasty gash in your head, and internal bleeding cause of your spleen doing something."

"Rupturin'."

"Yeah, that." She looked up at him and watched as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back, sighing in despair. A ruptured spleen would mean at several more days in the hospital, more than likely a week. Eliot didn't like staying in hospitals for more than an hour. Lindsey noticed this look on Eliot's face, one almost like panic. "Don't worry, I'll stay here with you the whole time. Plus, I got it taken care of."

Lindsey took the next several minutes to fill Eliot in on the cover story she had created on the spot, along with telling her that she contacted someone from his team that gave her his ID.

"You called Hardison?" He asked.

Lindsey giggled. "Oh, that's who that was? Huh. Always figured his for more of a nasally voice."

This caused Eliot to smirk. The nurse came back in the room with a small handheld mirror. Lindsey got up and asked to speak with the nurse outside of the room in order to tell her a few things about Eliot and give her man some time to morn the loss of his hair. Once they were outside the small and stuffy room, the nurse pulled the curtain in place.

"There is something you need to know about Eliot. He really doesn't like hospitals, and wont tell you if somethin is hurting. If he even _looks_ like he is in pain, give him meds. I want the best stuff. I don't care about the cost, I'll cover it."

The woman nodded and gave her smile. "Anything else?"

Lindsey shook her head. "Not at the moment." She waited until the nurse was out of sight to go back into the small room. Eliot had fallen back asleep on the bed, the mini mirror still in his hand.

_Lindsey was getting in bed when a knock came at her door. She tensed and reached under her bed until she found the small safe. She quickly entered the combination and removed the small pistol from the container. She checked to make sure it was loaded before slowly advancing to the door, clicking the safety off. She wasn't expecting any visitors. Lindsey quickly unlatched the deadbolt and swings the door wide open, aiming the barrel of the gun directly at…_

_Eliot._

_The man was standing there looking very much worse for the wear. It obviously had been raining, and he was soaked to the bone. His hair hung down in wet clumps. He was leaning on the doorframe and flashed her a weak grin before coming inside. However, he didn't get the welcome he was expecting. Lindsey just took a step back and didn't lower her gun. _

"_Nice way to say hello." Eliot mumbled leaning down to take off his boots. Lindsey watched him with steely eyes, never lowering her gun, not saying a word. Eliot removed his shoes and shed off his jacket, letting to fall to the floor. Confusion flits across his face and he looks around. The door to her place had reinforced steel bars going across the inside of it, as well as there being four extra locks in place. He took a closer look at Lindsey, and noticed that she was really pale looking, and had an air of tiredness around her, like she hadn't been sleeping well. And still the gun never moved. "You ok?"_

"_Ok? Am I ok?" She laughed. It was a hollow laugh, and it scared Eliot. "You don't show up for a year," She spat the last word. "And then you just show up, asking me if I'm ok. Let me tell you that no, I am not _Ok._" Her hands started to shake, and she lowered the gun. Eliot took a soft step forward, taking the weapon from her hands and disarming it before placing it on the small table located by the door. He then took an extra step, wrapping his arms around her, not caring if he was wet. Lindsey didn't care either. As soon as he touched her she collapsed, sobbing into his chest. Eliot stood there for a moment, silent in worry. He finally bent his knees and picked Lindsey up bridal style, carrying her to her bedroom, where he gently put her in her bed. He then quickly got out of his wet clothes, save his underwear, and crawled into bed with her, drawing her up into his lap. Her fingers curled around his shoulders as she drew herself into a sitting position on his lap. "I was starting to think you would never come back."_

"_Shh…" Eliot mumbled, stroking her hair. "Don't even think like that, darlin', I always come back." It may take him a week, a month, even a year, but he always returned. Always. The problem was, most of the time he was gone so long that the other person had decided to move on. "What happened here?"_

_Lindsey sniffled. "Some coke dealer came into town, hired me to make them some official documents so they could transport their cocaine legally. I told him I wouldn't do it."_

_Eliot blinked in surprise. Lindsey hardly ever turned down a job. In fact, he had only heard of her doing it once. He was about to speak up, but Lindsey continued. "He got pissed and tried to force me to do it. When he realized threats didn't work, he started to carry them out. Guys at the club, scaring off my clients. Even beating me a few times."_

_Eliot tensed as Lindsey continued with her story, and he started to see red spots. "You should have called."_

"_I did." Lindsey said, sounding cross. "You never answered."_

_Eliot cringed, feeling guilty. He had been so busy the last year with Nathan and the team that he hardly had any time to find out what was going on in the underworld. He spoke again, this time a different edge in his voice. "Where is this guy?"_

_Lindsey sat up, disconnecting herself from the man. His voice had turned hard, and there was a deadly glint in his eye. For the first time in a long time, Lindsey was truly scared of her lover. "Two lanes down, big black house."_

_The hitter nodded, but didn't make a move to go anywhere. Lindsey relaxed and dug down deeper in her covers, resting her head against Eliot's chest. "Glad your back." She mumbled._

_Eliot gave a soft smile, staying in the bed until she was fast asleep. He had wanted to tell her about all the fun he had as a part of a team, all the good he did, and the new skills he learned. He wanted to tell her how it hadn't lasted, how they had fallen apart because of the other Insurance investigator, Sterling. How sometimes, revenge just wasn't enough, and family came in all shapes and sizes._

_The next morning, Lindsey woke up to an empty bed, a plate filled to the brim with a gourmet breakfast, and a town that was lacking in a coke dealer._

Eliot slept for several hours, during which time Lindsey had managed to get a hold of some paper and a pencil. She spent this time sketching anything she could find in the tiny ICU room. She started with the monitors, and went on to Eliot himself. The nurses would come in periodically, checking Eliot's vital signs and taking blood. Lindsey left the room only once for five or so minutes, only long enough to go to the bathroom and grab a coffee from the cafeteria. It was about 10 in the morning when the Doctor came in to do a checkup on his patient. They had to wake Eliot up for that, and after asking several questions about how he was feeling and what he could remember, along with taking some tests, the Doctor signed off that the hitter was doing well enough that he could be moved to the regular patient care section of the hospital. More pain pills were given out, and Eliot flirted a little with the nurse as she prepped him for the transfer. Lindsey hovered just out of reach so not to interfere with the proceedings, yet close enough by to watch what was going on. The nurse may not have noticed it, but Lindsey saw every small twitch in Eliot's pale face and all the slight ticks that were giveaways of the pain that he was feeling. Lindsey longed for the option of being able to do something that would help him. But instead she was trapped as an innocent bystander.

She walked down the hall with the nurse as they transferred his bed to his new room, her hand holding on to the railing on the side of the bed. She gave him reassuring smiles every so often, even though she was sure that he needed none. It took even longer for the nurse to set up everything in the new room. Lindsey watched as the monitors sprang to life every time a new wire was reattached. All the tubes were gone from his body, but Eliot was still very pale, and very tired. He fell asleep once again not soon after he was settled in his new room. There was a mini bathroom adjoining his private hospital room and Lindsey took advantage of the time to get clean, making use of the shower then taking a quick trip down to the gift shop where she picked up a pair of sweat pants and a shirt with the hospital name on the front. She also picked up a baseball hat as a last minute gift for Eliot. She had a feeling that there would be a lot of hats in his future until his hair grew back. As she was walking back to Eliot's room, she heard the nurse talking to someone at the counter. He was an average man with messy brown hair, who looked vaguely familiar. Lindsey would have kept walking, but she heard the man's voice. "s'cuse me. I'm here for a patient? Yes. Eliot Jones. Uh huh. I'm his boss, as well as a close friend."

"If you can sit down right over there, I will see what I can do." The woman sitting behind the desk said. Lindsey decided to step in and walked up to the desk and stood beside the man, shifting her newly bought clothes to her other arm. "Eliot's sleeping right now, I just came from his room." Ok, so it was a little lie, but she didn't want some person just waltzing right into the hospital room. For all she knew the man was dangerous.

The brown-haired man turned to face her, surprise and worry written all over his face. Not the characteristics of an assassin. That made Lindsey feel a little better, but only a little. "You are?"

She frowned. "Lindsey Thompson. You?"

"Nathan Ford."

Lindsey froze, her eyes growing slightly wider. She took a step back as anger flitted through her features. If the circumstances were any different, she would have hit him right there and now, really hard. However, she didn't need to be detained at the moment, not with Eliot hurt like he was and that investigation going on about the crash. She pushed back her hatred for the man in front of her; trying to remember all the good things that Eliot had told her about him. Like how he had changed and wasn't hunting down criminals anymore. Or how he helped people while still breaking the law. But all she could think about was how that man owed her a million dollars. "Eliot's told me about you." She said through clenched teeth.

"He hasn't told me about you." Nate said, a new worry crossing his face. He didn't like that the hitter had blabbed about him to some girl that he never even heard of.

"It's better that way." Lindsey remarked. Then, she wondered how Nathan heard of Eliot's 'accident' and was able to get down here so fast. She would ask him later.

"How is he?"

"He's ok. They moved him out of the ICU, but he is really tired, got banged up really good." She beckoned toward where his room was. "There are two chairs in there if you want." She wanted to be mean to the man, she really did. But this wasn't her time, it was Eliot's. As soon as he got better, though, that man better watch out. It would be real easy to give some lunatic on the street some fake ID's with his information on them. Plus, she had a contact in LA who could get her a meeting with a certain Insurance company…

"Thanks." He nodded, still wary about the woman. However, she didn't seem very strong, plus he saw the worry lines on her face, and had a feeling that she wouldn't hurt Eliot. The way she was looking at him was another matter, like he did something to her or something.

They got to the room, and Nate had to take a step back. The poor man looked so weak laying in the hospital bed, his eyes closed in slumber. Nate felt himself go light headed, and he had to sit down. The beeping of the monitors fell into the background as he stared at the man that he learned to call a friend. "What happened."

Lindsey took the other available seat, leaning back, not taking her eyes off of Nate. "Car accident."

Nathan looked over at the woman, glaring at her. "You expect me to believe that?"

Lindsey shrugged. "And some other stuff…"

The man sighed, and was about to dig deeper for more information when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He flipped it open and read the text before turning his attention back to Lindsey. "It's about to get a whole lot more crowded in here."

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**yay! The rest of the Leverage team is on their way! Reviews?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Ok, this is the final chapter to the story which was originally suppose to be a oneshot. Thanks so much to all of my reviewers and silent stalkers! School starts tomorrow. Ugh. I am going to go back and fix all the mistakes and repost the chapters once I get in the tempo of having to go to school again, so please be patient. I hop eyou enjoyed this little escapade.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Lindsey, even though I wish I had more.**

* * *

Eliot woke to a quiet room. His vision was blurry at first, but grew steadily better as time wore on. The pain was lower than it had been since he had woken up in a hospital bed, and he attributed that to the drugs that he was pretty sure were coursing through the system. One downside to the pain medication was a surreal feeling that followed his now. His legs were sticking to the sheets, and it was annoying him. He tried to wiggle his legs around, but he managed only to tangle himself up further. Plus, it was extremely hot in the room, and he felt himself starting to sweat, small beads dripping down his face, others slipping into his cast causing it to itch. He braced himself by using his left arm to hold on to the rail on the hospital bed before shifting his wait in order to move his legs. This only succeeded in causing a ripple of pain to shoot up his right side where the bullet had nicked him. Eliot grunted and went to try again.

"Need some help?" Lindsey's voice came form beside him. She startled him and he jumped slightly, his head whirling around until his eyes focused on her. He had been so focused on moving around in the bed that he had not seen Lindsey, who was sitting in the chair next to his hospital bed. She had an amused look on her face. "I think that's the first time I've ever surprised you."

"It's these damn drugs." He grunted. Eliot noticed a small drawing pad lying next to the chair, and saw the edge of a picture. Seems like Lindsey had found a way to keep herself busy. He glanced at the clock and groaned. The nurse must have given him some sedative as well, this was the longest he had ever slept before.

Lindsey got up from the chair and slowly pulled the covers off of him, slapping at Eliot's left hand as he tried to help. He gave her a look, but silently resigned, letting her mother him. Lindsey set the sheets aside then helped Eliot move a bit on the bed, trying not to aggravate his wounds. The two worked together, Lindsey leaning over the bed, trying to control his cast, while Eliot impatiently shifted around, trying to get comfortable. Finally he found a spot where he could relax, and he leaned back in the hospital bed, the little escapade thoroughly exhausting him. He was breathing a little heavy, and the room kept on seeming to get hotter.

"You need anything?" Lindsey asked, concern written all over her face. Eliot thought about saying no, but changed his mind. "It's a little hot, and my cast is itching like crazy."

Lindsey nodded. She could do something about the temperature, but he would have to deal with the cast. She walked over to the thermostat and tried to lower the temperature. It was already set on 75, and wouldn't go down any more. She frowned, and went over to the small sink located in the room, grabbing some paper towels and getting them damp. She then carefully wiped the wet towels over Eliot's face, careful not to touch the wrappings on his head or the small cuts on his face. She gave a soothing smile when she watched him close his eyes and sigh with relief. Unable to help herself, Lindsey leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss before pulling back and resuming her cooling down duty. This caused Eliot's eyes to open, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "That made me feel a little better. Can you give me some more of that?"

Lindsey rolled her eyes, but gave him another kiss. This one was slightly longer, and when she pulled away she noticed how dry his lips looked. "Are you thirsty?"

Eliot licked his lips and nodded. "Just a bit."

"I'll ask the nurse to bring you some water." Lindsey said, going to press the button. It was then that Eliot got a full view of what Lindsey was wearing. The clothes looked like something that would come from a hospital gift shop. Her makeup was long gone, and her hair wasn't exactly at its best. "Sweetheart, have you gone home?"

Lindsey turned and shook her head. "No."

Eliot frowned, and gave a large sigh. Then, he heard a voice outside. A voice that, if he remembered right, belonged to…

He shot Lindsey a shocked look. "Was that…"

He watched as she nodded. "Yeah. Your team is here. I told them I would get them when you woke up."

_Eliot stood outside of the pretty little bakery located on the streets of Venice. It was a beautiful day, and ever so often a boat would drive past in the waters. Eliot frowned as he heard the roar of a boat motor as the vehicle screamed past him. Venice used to be such a beautiful and clean place, untouched by cars or exhaust. However, since the boats started to use the waterways, the crystal clear water had turned murky. The city was sinking, and Venice was falling apart. His smile turned into a grin, however, when he watched as a beautifully ornate gondola slowly drifted past, a young couple riding next to each other as a man stood in the back, slowly edging the boat along. The couple leaned in for a kiss, and the hitter turned around to give them some privacy. Which brought him face to face with his situation._

_Eliot had come to Venice on a mission. A very powerful man who wanted a very powerful object to add to his collection had hired him several weeks ago. This man had tried to hire thieves to steal the object, but they all refused due to the uneventful fact that they would have to engage in physical combat in order to retrieve the item. And so, Eliot was called. The problem was, the object in question would take a while to get out of the country, and he would need a day or two grace period when the previous owner of the artifact did not know that it was stolen. Eliot was pretty new to the stealing business, and a rookie to the old snatch and switch operation. So, he contacted a few of his buddies, who claimed they could set him up with the greatest forger who worked for hire. This person took longer than the average forger, but did one hell of a job, and wouldn't rat you out, no matter who went after them. No one knew their real name, only that they went by Minerva. Eliot had gotten his contact to set a meeting with this Minerva. He hadn't seen the person; they contacted him through the phone. He gave them the details of the object in question, along with the promise of eight thousand dollars in American money for the finished product. It was a bit pricey for the young hitter, but he accepted, he needed this job. So here he was, three weeks later, ready to pick up the artifact. He was scheduled to steal the real item in two nights._

_A medium sized black suitcase hung loosely from Eliot's hand. Inside were several stacks of American money, adding up to eight grand. This suitcase was a special one that was sent to him from this Minerva made specifically for this exchange. He glanced at his watch before brushing his long hair from his eyes. He waited several seconds, and then boldly pushed through the front doors of the bakery._

_A young woman with hazel eyes and short brown hair was working the counter. On closer inspection, Eliot noticed that the brown wasn't her natural hair color. Pushing that odd thought from his mind, the hitter approached the counter and said the magic words. "A dozen rolls, fresh from the oven. And add in a few cookies." He pointed to the specific kind. _

_The woman glanced at him a moment then nodded, disappearing into the back room. Several minutes she reappeared, and beckoned for him to follow her. That he did, taking in everything at once, his sensing sharp. She took up him a flight of stairs to a small loft located above the store. Once he was through the doorway the woman closed and locked the door behind her. "Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Spencer."_

_Eliot's eyebrows raised in surprise, but he quickly covered it up. "Same. Minerva, am I right?"_

"_Right as you'll ever be." The woman replied, a sly grin coming onto her face. "Let's see, you were the statue, and I correct?"_

"_Yes ma'am." He stated, using his southern draw. Minerva glanced at him in surprise. She picked up a briefcase that was identical to the one he was holding, and set it on the bed. _

_Eliot did the same, and tried to strike up a conversation. "Minerva ain't your real name, is it."_

"_It is for you." She sniped, giving him a look that just asked for him to dig deeper. "I've heard a lot about you, Eliot Spencer. Your new to the game, but very good from what I hear."_

_The woman took Eliot's briefcase and opened it, her eyes scanning the money as she mentally counted. Satisfied, she clicked it shut then beckoned for Eliot to do the same. _

"_Is that right?"_

_Minerva smirked. "Yeah, at retrieving both artifacts and women."_

_Eliot blushed a bit at that one. It wasn't his fault that there were good looking woman scattered all over the world who seemed to take an interest in southern men who could beat the crap out of someone with their bare hands. "Gotta live, honey."_

_Minerva laughed. Eliot found himself enjoying her laugh, but quickly shook that thought out of his head. "This better be worth eight grand."_

"_Oh, it is. My best work yet. Took me all of three weeks to do. It will pass visual inspection, but when the art experts get a look at it, you better be long gone."_

_Eliot nodded, and went to pick up the suitcase. His fingers hovered over the latches, and he pressed down on the buttons._

_Minerva smirked at this, and rounded the bed until she was standing next to him and looked in on the artifact. "How about this. I'll trade you three grand for a dinner."_

_Eliot looked into her eyes, and found adventure and curiosity staring him back. He barely hesitated. "Deal."_

_He took one last look at the small golden monkey before shutting the briefcase. Perfect._

"No Parker, you can't bungee jump down the elevator shaft, I don't care _how_ sturdy it may look." Hardison's voice rang out as he gave the blonde thief a strange stare, wondering how she could be asking something like that at a time like this. Him and the rest of the Leverage team, minus Eliot, were sitting in the waiting room, killing time until Eliot woke back up. Nathan had been the first one to arrive, and had been there to meet Sophie, Parker, and Hardison as they each arrived after flying in on the red eye flights from where ever they had been taking their vacations. Hardison had contacted each of them with the news that Eliot had gotten hurt, and told them where to come. He wasn't entirely surprised when they all said they could make it.

There was another woman there with Eliot who had been there when he crashed, the one he had talked to on the phone. However, none of them other than Nate had actually gotten to se her. She hadn't shown herself yet. They had all sat in the waiting chairs as Nate gave them a rundown of Eliot's situation. He wouldn't look like the normal man that they all worked with, and that he was still weak from the surgery and the accident. They all understood that, and just wanted to see him.

The door to Eliot's hospital room opened, and they looked up as a small skinny blonde girl exited the room, wearing a t-shirt and jogging pants and looking like she had seen better days. Nate gave her a small smile, which she didn't return. "He's up."

The other three looked up. So this was the mysterious girl who had been with Eliot. Sophie was the first to stand up and introduce herself. "Sophie Devereaux."

"I'm Lindsey." She said, not bringing up her last name. Mostly because the hospital knew her as her fake last name, and no one knew her actual last name, not even Eliot.

"I'm Alec Hardison."

"Parker."

The two had stood up and said their names. Lindsey looked at Hardison, a cocky grin on her face. "Eliot has told me _many_ stories about you. Is it true that you were once stuck on the ceiling of an elevator?"

Parker snorted in amusement, while Hardison gave her an evil glare. "Possibly…"

"How do you know Eliot?" Sophie asked, always the one to try and get answers from someone. She tried to grill Nate, but he wouldn't say anything.

"I'm a contact of his." Lindsey said with a smile, not sure whether or not Eliot wanted the rest of the team to know about their relationship.

Hardison gave a fake laugh. "Sure, sure man. Ok."

Parker approached the woman. "What do you do?"

Lindsey gave her a once over. "What?"

Parker shrugged. "I steal, Hardison hacks things, Sophie acts, and Nate…well….is Nate. What do you do?"

Lindsey hesitated, and watched as the others all stared at her. She sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. "Alright. You probably know me by the name Minerva."

Hardison's eyes bulged out of his head. "M-Minerva. Like, _The_ Minerva?"

She nodded, a grin spreading widely across her face. Nate's face, on the other hand, did just the opposite. He now knew the reason for Lindsey's strange behavior toward him.

"Oh my god, I have got to get you to make me some identities." Sophie squealed.

"Who?" Parker asked, entirely clueless. Lindsey just rolled her eyes and pointed toward Eliot's room. "He's waiting."

_Lindsey was woken from her slumber by a knock on her hotel room door. Hoping that it was Eliot back from whatever it was he was doing, she quickly got up and hopped out of bed, pausing just long enough to pull on one of his t-shirts. If it wasn't Eliot, she didn't want some random person seeing her in her underwear and bra. Lindsey advanced on the door, looking out the peephole as she undid the deadbolt. It was Eliot. Smiling to herself, she quickly opened the door and went to make a smart remark about him being so late. She stopped herself, however, when she got a proper look at him._

_Eliot was leaning up against the frame of the door. He looked sweaty and unsteady on his feet. His right arm was gripping his side, although Lindsey couldn't see any blood. Her eyes widened and she stepped aside, allowing Eliot to stumble inside. She took a quick look around the hallways before shutting and relocking the door. "What the hell happened?"_

"_I'm fine, thanks for asking." Eliot said, staggering over to the bed. He quickly took off his jacket and shirt in order to inspect the damage. Lindsey saw a large bluish purplish bruise starting to spread across Eliot's torso. She sucked in her breath and brought her fingers to her mouth. "Oh my."_

_Eliot shook his head. "It's fine, just a cracked rib, maybe two." He hissed as his fingers gently probed the edges of the wound. Lindsey walked up to him, resting her hand on his arm. "What happened?" She asked again._

_Eliot shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention."_

_He wouldn't say anything more than that. Lindsey should have known better than to expect that Eliot wouldn't have some sort of job. When he had come to her with two plane tickets for Las Vegas, she allowed herself to believe that the only reason behind the act was because he wanted to take her somewhere nice and spend the week with her and only her. It shouldn't of hurt her that he also had a job while they were there, but it did. At least he had told her that he had some business to take care of and would be gone most of that day. _

_She continued to stare at the bruise, tears welling in her eyes as her breath became unsteady. Eliot noticed this and frowned, not understanding why she was so upset. "I'm fine, sweetheart."_

_Lindsey gave a small laugh and shook her head. Sweetheart. That was what he called her. She never heard him call anyone else that. Not that it mattered. She ran her hand through her long hair. She knew what Eliot did, she wasn't stupid. He hurt people, and in that process, he sometimes got hurt himself. However, seeing was something totally different. This was the first time that Lindsey ever saw Eliot with a fresh battle wound, and it scared her. _

_The tears flowed freely, and Eliot stood up, the pain forgotten as he worried about Lindsey. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms gingerly around her, trying not to press his chest against her body. Lindsey closed her eyes and just stood there, placing her arms around his back. _

"_What's the matter?" Eliot mumbled._

_Lindsey took a deep breath before pulling back. "I-I don't think I can do this."_

_Eliot froze. "What do you mean?"_

_Lindsey unraveled herself from him, taking a step back and wrapping her arms around herself in a tight hug. "You are going to go on a job one day, and never come back. One day the wounds will be too much to bear, or you won't find help in time…."_

_Seeing Eliot freshly hurt so soon after a job had put her mind into overload. It may have only been a cracked rib, but it symbolized much more. People who did what Eliot did never lasted long; they had a very short lifespan. Lindsey was getting too attached, falling too deep, way to fast. She was scared for him, and for herself. Scared of what would happen when the day came that he never came back._

_Eliot realized what she was talking about, and looked her straight in the eye. "I know. But it's worth it, ain't it?" He took a step forward and closed his hands around both of Lindsey's arms. "Look me in the eye and tell me it isn't worth it, and I will leave and let you get on with your life."_

_Lindsey tried hard not to look into his eyes, but she was drawn to them. She stared into the deep blue pools, and saw everything that she ever wanted in them and more. "That's the point, Eliot!"_

_The hitter frowned. "What is the point? I don't understand!"_

"_I Love you! I Love you, you son of a bitch! And I don't know what I would do if I wake up one morning and you are dead!"_

_Eliot froze, staring at Lindsey with wide eyes, a look of surprise on his face. Lindsey stared back at him, sniffling slightly as the tears kept flowing. Part of her wanted him to say it back, to take her in his arms and hug her and kiss her and tell her that he loved her too, and that everything would be ok. But another part of her wanted him to turn away and let her go. _

"_Only one other person has told me that." Eliot finally whispered._

_Lindsey looked up. "What happened?"_

"_She got tired of waiting."_

_Lindsey stared at the man that she had loved for so long, and knew for even longer. That seemed like all she ever did for him. Wait. He would show up at her doorstep and stay for some time. Sometime a week, other times it could be for a month. Once he didn't even stay for a whole day. But he would always come back, and each time she would wait. "What now?"_

_Eliot gave a small smirk. "You give me a kiss then grab the first aid kit in my suitcase, wrap my ribs, and see what happens."_

_Lindsey smiled. She stepped forward into his arms and gave him a soft kiss on the lips before walking over to his suitcase, pulling out the first aid kit that he said was in there. He hadn't given her what she wanted, but that was ok, because she was willing to wait._

Instead of all crowding into the small hospital room at once, they each entered one at a time. Sophie was the first to go inside. She felt tears welling in her eyes as soon as she caught sight of him. Eliot was sitting up in the bed, playing with a plastic cup that was halfway full with ice. When he saw her enter, he placed the cup on a small stand next to his bed and gave a weak smile, waiting patiently while Sophie made a fuss over him. She ran over to the side of his bed and gave him a hug. The pressure caused his bullet wounds to both hurt, but he managed to contain the groan that was clawing at his throat for her sake.

Hardison entered next. He took one look at Eliot and burst out laughing. "Man, where did you hair go!"

Eliot growled at him, but grinned all the same. He saw the shock that was in the hacker's eyes, and knew that insults and attempted humor was the man's way of dealing with things. Nate had slipped in next, already seeing Eliot. However, this was Eliot first time seeing his boss, since he had been asleep last time Nate had entered the room.

Several minutes lapsed, then Parker silently entered the room. Before Sophie had entered, Parker had run down to the gift shop on the first floor of the hospital and bought a stuffed rabbit. She was holding it by the ears as she hung around the opening at the door. She was unsure of what to do.

Eliot rolled his eyes. "Come on, darlin, get over here." He drawled. Parker gave an impish grin and walked up to the side of Eliot's hospital bed, handing the rabbit to him. "His name is Mr. Tibbles."

Eliot laughed and took the rabbit in his good hand. Then he watched as Parker slowly extended her hand to his head and patted the top of his skull carefully. Eliot frowned at this and sent her a curious glance.

Parker shrugged. "Just making sure it was really gone."

Eliot's eyes narrowed and a large laugh filled the small room. Once everything settled down, Sophie spoke up. "Tell us about this Lindsey girl."

There were several murmurs of agreement coming from the hacker and the thief. Eliot glanced out the small window in his door and saw her standing outside of his room. She had hung back, understanding that this was a team thing and that she didn't need to interfere. Eliot frowned, wondering if it was a good idea to tell them about her. They hadn't really discussed it before, and Eliot guessed that she wanted their relationship to be secret. It made things easier.

"She's a…friend." Eliot finally stuttered.

"Seriously? Come _on_ dude, you could at least come up with a better lie." Hardison said.

Sophie smiled. "I could tell the moment I saw her that you two were together! How long?" She hadn't even needed a confirmation from the source. Sophie could tell when two people really cared about each other, it was what she did.

Eliot frowned and thought back, trying to remember. It had been a long time, and the time when they stopped being contacts and started being more had blurred a little. He shrugged. "Dunno. Six, maybe seven years."

"And you didn't tell us why?"

"Cause you didn't need to know." Eliot snapped, feeling impatient. He knew that his team was interested in his personal life, but he really didn't feel like dealing with this right now. He closed his eyes in order to get a few seconds of peace. He was feeling really tired again, and his wounds were all starting to hurt like hell. However, he wouldn't allow himself to fall asleep while his team was in the room. It was a pride thing. Sophie noticed this, and turned to the others. "I think we should come back later. Glad that you are ok."

Everyone filled out of the room, and once they were out, Lindsey slipped back in, smiling when she saw the rabbit.

"His name is Mr. Tibbles." Eliot mumbled. Lindsey nodded. She noticed how tired Eliot looked, and closed the door and turned off the lights so he could get some sleep. Lindsey leaned over the bed and kissed Eliot lightly on the lips, suppressing a smile when she felt him return the favor. Lindsey sat down in her chair as she watched him slip slowly into slumber. She reached under the bed and pulled out the sketch she was working on. It was a close-up of Eliot's face, his features calm and serene, his eyes closed with sleep. She glanced at his face before picking up her pencil and continuing to draw.

"_I Love you."_

_Lindsey glanced up from where she was working, an irritated look on her face. "Shut up and stop moving, I'm trying to work here."_

_Somehow, Lindsey had talked Eliot into posing for her so she could draw a portrait. She had him get dressed in a pair of jeans with cowboy boots and his famous belt buckle, along with a plaid button up shirt with a collar, and his favorite cowboy hat. He was sitting on a stool, leaning forward slightly, staring off into the distance. He had called in cliché, but she called it art._

"_I'm serious." Eliot said. His comment had been out of the blue, and nothing out of ordinary had happened to prompt him to say it. He had wanted to say it for some time, but the setting never seemed right, or something always got in the way. But now, when both of them were alone and acting normal, it had seemed right._

_Lindsey looked up once more from her drawing board. "Oh. That was a little random."_

_Eliot shrugged, gaining a glare and a grunting noise from Lindsey. "Quit moving!"_

"_I was kinda expecting a little different reaction here, sweetheart." He said, frowning slightly. _

"_What do you want me to do? Drop what I am doing, run into your arms, then proceed to kiss you passionately?"_

"_Well….yeah."_

_Lindsey snorted. "Don't think so. At least, not until I am finished."_

_Eliot sighed. Women may be complicated, but none of them could even touch Lindsey. _

"_I have to go tomorrow." He said, just as nonchalantly as he had said the other words. _

_This caused Lindsey to stop what she was doing. She put down her brush and looked around the easel to stare at him. Worry was written on her face, did Eliot tell her he loved her just in case he died on this next job?_

_Eliot caught on to Lindsey's train of thought, and frowned, standing up from where he was sitting. "Nothing like that, darlin'. Nate found a new client."_

_Lindsey frowned and stood up from the easel, walking around it so that she came face to face with her lover. "You just got here yesterday, and I'm not done yet."_

_Eliot smiled. "Come with me."_

"_What?"_

"_Move to Portland."_

_Lindsey closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We have been through this, Eliot. I can't. I have a good business flow here. I can't exactly leave a sign on the door saying that I have moved."_

_Eliot crossed his arms, determined to win her over. "There are people who need things forged in Portland too, sweetheart. You could even work for my team."_

_Lindsey snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure Ford would love that."_

_Eliot sighed and stepped forward, encircling Lindsey in his arms as he buried his head in her neck. "Please?"_

"_I've got an idea, why don't you come here?" Lindsey said, enjoying his touch._

"_You know I can't do that."_

"_Well, we are at an impasse, aren't we?"_

"I want _real_ food! Not this jello shit!"

Lindsey heard Eliot yelling in the hospital room as she watched a very nervous nurse trying to talk to him. Lindsey was standing outside of the room, just getting back from the cafeteria. She looked around and, finding a trashcan, threw away the jello she had just bought from the cafeteria. Lindsey heard some more yelling from the room, and decided to intervene.

She stepped inside and walked quickly to the bed. While she had been gone, Eliot's doctor had come in and replaced the bandages on his head and wheeled him out of the room in order to do some more check. Eliot had been given the good news that he could be released the next day, if he promised to stay within a five minute drive of the hospital for the next weekly. Fortunately, Lindsey's apartment sat just inside those parameters. She had already talked to Nathan and told him that Eliot wouldn't be back in for work for at least another week. He and the rest of the team were absolutely fine with that. Soon after, they said there goodbyes then departed back to their vacation spots; they had a few more days left.

"I'll talk to him." Lindsey said to the nurse, who thanked her and then quickly exited the room. Lindsey turned to Eliot and gave him a hard stare. "You couldn't deal with just one more day of liquids?"

Eliot shook his head. "I'm a man, Lin. A man's gotta eat meat."

Lindsey sighed, then closed the door to the room before pulling a half-eaten hamburger out of the small thank-you bag she had gotten from the cafeteria. "I was planning on finished it later, but you can have it."

Eliot's eyes lit up as he saw the burger, and gratefully took it from Lindsey. He ate it slowly, savoring each bite. However, it was gone way too fast. Eliot took a few sips from his water and leaned back in the hospital bed. "I can't wait to get out of this damn place."

Lindsey rolled her eyes. "I don't understand how a man in your profession can be so impatient."

"I'm an action kind of guy." He remarked, putting on a snarky grin.

Lindsey just rolled her eyes and pulled the drawing pad out from under the chair that was located next to the hospital bed. She glanced at it, and then handed it to Eliot, who took it with his left hand. He stared at the drawing for a few seconds. "Do I really look like that?"

Lindsey smacked him playfully on the arm. "Shut up, you know you like it."

He grinned and placed it next to Mr. Tibbles, who was occupying some space on his bed.

Lindsey grew quite, looking at Eliot and all the scrapes and wounds that covered his body. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault. We could have been in New York right now…"

Eliot's face softened, and he stroked Lindsey's check with his left hand. "It's ok. It happens sometimes."

Lindsey leaned in to his touch. "But it was all for nothing."

Eliot grinned slyly. Lindsey noticed this, and her eyes lit up. "You didn't!"

"Check my inside jacket pocket."

Lindsey rushed over to where the patient belongings bag was sitting behind the chair. She wrinkled her nose when she pulled the jacket out. It had several holes in it and was covered in blood. All the same, she fished around in the pocket that Eliot told her too until her hand came out holding an envelope that bulged slightly. She opened it to find a few thin stacks of money.

"Don't think that is all of it." Eliot said. He was unable to say anything more due to Lindsey's lips covering his own. He eagerly kissed back, his left hand cupping the back of her head in order to pull her closer. They soon broke for air, and Lindsey couldn't help the wide grin that spread across her face. "You're amazing."

Eliot smirked. "You don't have to keep reminding me, sweetheart."

Lindsey smiled back. "I'll remember that."

A look of horror passed on Eliot's face as he thought about the words he just said, and their meaning. Lindsey just laughed and gave him another small kiss before falling into the chair.

Once again, everything would be ok. They came out on top, despite the odds. They were still breathing, the world was still turning, and somewhere, a drug dealer was a few thousands dollars short. And they would keep living, taking life one day at a time.

Because truly, there was no other way.

* * *

**Tada! The End. Reviews would be loved. Also, something to think about. If enough people ask me for a sequel, I may write one. All I need is an idea. If you have one, please let me know, because I really enjoy writing Lindsey.**


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